A commercial cleaner receives items to cleaned from a number of customers. Unfortunately, a commercial cleaner normally cannot profitably clean laundry or other items by handling items on a single customer basis. The cleaning process is more efficient when the full capacity of machines is used requiring several customer's item to be group together for cleaning. Thus, items from several customers may be grouped together and cleaned as a load to efficiently utilize cleaning equipment. As used herein the terms "cleaning" and "laundry" and their derivatives and counterparts refer to both dry cleaning (without water) and wet cleaning, and these terms may be used interchangeably to refer to both the act or process of washing and ironing and the things washed and the place where it is done.
While the items are being cleaned, for example, when a customer drops off a load of shirts to be laundered, the cleaner writes up a ticket giving the customer a portion thereof as a receipt. The cleaner keeps one portion of the ticket as his inventory and receipt and tosses the main portion of the ticket into a bag with the shirts. The cleaner may remove a separable portion of the ticket with an identification number and attach one of these separable portions to each of the shirts for inventory and tracking purposes. The cleaner operates a service business and it is his responsibility to receive items, clean them, and return them to the customer.
The cleaner receives the bags of laundry and tags each item to identify the individual customer by using the separable portion of the ticket. This is done prior to sorting the items for cleaning. In the case of shirts, the shorts may be divided into lots sufficient to efficiently fill a commercial washer which may hold a hundred shirts. Because these large washers hold so many items, it is imperative that each item have an identification tag so that it can be returned to the proper customer. The shirts are shorted and washed in lots of one hundred or so, but within each lot, the shirts are in no particular order. Before the shirts leave the cleaning area, they must be starched, ironed and assembled with the ticket with which they arrived. The shirts are ironed and they are hung on a rail according to their lot. When the entire lot is pressed and hung, the shirts are sorted by hand and assembled with the ticket that accompanied them. This process involves physically handling each shirt by looking at the separable tag thereon and placing that particular item on a rack with the ticket. The separable tags indicate how many pieces belong with that ticket. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to be able to reassemble the prepared laundry with its ticket with a minimum amount of handling.
Another problem with the sorting process is that a worker must physically handle the separable tag to read the identification data which may consists of a four, five or even six or more digit number or combination of numbers and letters, creating an opportunity for error in reading the data. Even when being extremely careful, a worker is prone either to misread the identifying data or to transpose digits and thereby place a garment with the wrong ticket. The result of such an error is that a customer receives the wrong item or no item at all. Also, the separable portion of the ticket is constructed of paper impregnated with ink which sometimes deteriorates during the cleaning process making the data difficult to read. It is desirable to have identifying data which does not deteriorate in the cleaning process and remains crisp, clear and easy to read.
A time consuming element of the sorting process is the step of separating the lot of cleaned items and assembling them with the appropriate ticket, remembering that a single ticket may contain several items of cleaning. Presently, a worker picks the first item in the lot off the rack, looks at the identifying data thereon, places the item with the appropriate ticket, and proceeds to the next item in the lot. This represents three opportunities for worker error. Because the cleaned items cannot be maintained in any particular order in the machines during cleaning, they must be shorted by hand by visually checking and pairing numbers after cleaning. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to unite each item in a lot with the appropriate ticket without manually handling each item at each step of the reassemble process.
Laundry sorting apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,435 which issued Dec. 16, 1980 to Donald J. Weiss and Bernard S. Speckhart, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,699 which issued Mar. 13, 1990 to R. E. Butcher and A. A. Henderson Jr. Weiss et al. discloses an apparatus and method for arranging a plurality of randomly arranged identifiable articles into a predetermined order. The apparatus includes a conveyor for releasably supporting the randomly arranged articles and for conveying the articles supported thereon past at least one receiving station arranged about the conveyor for receiving the articles. Identifying means are associated with the receiving station for identifying each article as it is conveyed past the receiving station. Release means responsive to the identifying means are provided for releasing the article identified by the identifying means from the conveyor means to the receiving station when the article identified is the next succeeding article in the predetermined order with respect to the articles previously received by the receiving station. Articles are only removed from the conveyor means when they are the next succeeding article in a predetermined order. The remaining articles will remain on the conveyor for subsequent passes past the receiving station. The method for arranging randomly arranged articles into a predetermined order comprises releasably supporting the randomly arranged articles on support means and moving the articles past at least one receiving station for receiving the articles. As each of the articles move past the receiving station, each article is released from the support means to the receiving station when the article is the next succeeding article in the predetermined order with respect to the articles previously received by the receiving station. The articles remaining on the support means continue moving past the receiving station until all of the articles on the support means are released to the receiving station.
Butcher et al. discloses a method and apparatus for sorting and arranging garments in a selected order which have been sequentially placed in an unordered sequence. The garments are identified by a marking affixed to each garment, and each garments arranged in its identified sequence on a sorting conveyor having a multiplicity of movable carriers each for receiving a garment. Identification signals are rearranged in a preselected order, and a plurality of arranged signals are assigned to each one of a corresponding plurality of pick-off mechanisms positioned along the sorting conveyor. A computer calculates bidirectional movement of the sorting conveyor to minimize conveyor movement for positioning a garment for pick-off in its proper sequence by a respective one of the pick-off mechanisms. The conveyor is driven in a bidirectional mode to properly position the garment, and a pick-off mechanism is activated to remove the garment from the sorting conveyor and position the garment on an unloading conveyor. Each conveyor pick-off apparatus includes a fluid-powered cylinder inclined downward toward the sorting conveyor, and a drive unit for closing the gripper mechanism.
Unfortunately, the apparatus of Butcher and Weiss is designed for large conveyors capable of holding a thousand or more garments and accordingly requires a large amount of floor space in the laundry or garment handling facility. Also, a twelve digit or longer garment identification number may be required to ensure each garment is routed to where it belongs. These systems are designed for use with identification labels permanently attached to the garments and are not easily adapted to items without these permanent labels or items without the same complex numbering system. Understandably, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a laundry sorting apparatus that is compact and does not require an enormous amount of floor space. It is also desirable to have a laundry sorting apparatus that is efficient to use on small lots on the order of a hundred items or so as is typically encountered in laundry operations.
Another problem with conveyor systems is that the conveyors operate in finite steps with the aid of a stepping motor, and stop for removal of garments. The powerful stepping motors required can be expensive, and can also start and stop with jerky steps causing the garments to sway and interfere with one another. The swaying motion of the garments causes problems when neighboring items are handled in succession. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a sorting system which operates in a continuous motion and which prevents the garments from swaying.